It's cheaper than the equivalent iPad, but faces competition from the (lower spec) iPad mini from next week.

I would have gone for this instantly a couple of years ago, but as I have a couple of iPads now I don't feel moved to order one.

I might go for a Surface Pro to replace an ageing notebook PC, but it won't be cheap as it's aimed at the business market.

Yeah, I know what you mean. Half the reason I delayed buying an iPad was I thought it would discourage me to move to Windows 8/RT.

Selling the iPad (a sure thing but boring) and buying the Surface RT (lots of potential which may go unfulfilled and take a long time to reach ecosystem maturity) is a hard sell. Especially as work gave me an iPhone 5 which I am now enjoying more than my Lumia 800.

If Lumia 920 operates a lot faster on the app opening, improves the multitasking, gets a great official twitter client and more top apps then I will stick with a Windows Phone as my personal phone.

How will you use the RT for development work? Are you just going to use it to RDP into a Win7 machine or something?

There's no Visual Studio on RT?

I develop Windows Store apps (WinRT) in Windows 8 with Visual Studio 2012. I test in VS simulator and then try it on a real tablet. At the moment I have W8 tablets (upgraded from W7) to use, I'd like to try it on a real RT tablet as well.

I develop Windows Store apps (WinRT) in Windows 8 with Visual Studio 2012. I test in VS simulator and then try it on a real tablet. At the moment I have W8 tablets (upgraded from W7) to use, I'd like to try it on a real RT tablet as well.

Ah cool, how do MS allow the sideloading of apps to work for developers?

Ah cool, how do MS allow the sideloading of apps to work for developers?

You install a developer certificate on the device, which is for free, you only have to sign in with Live Id and then you can deploy the app. The certificate is valid for one month, then you have to get another one. That's W8, I wonder if this will work with RT. It must, there must be a way to test on these as well.

Well I'm going to totally against the theme and say the pricing is all wrong. They've tried to compete with the iPad but with poorer features and a crappy appstore. They're going bomb hard.

It depends on what you mean by "poorer features." The Surface has a lower screen resolution than the iPad and if having that sort of PPI is the most important thing to you, then that's a deal breaker on Surface. The only other details that the iPad has and is conspicuous in its absence on Surface is a model with LTE - but being that most iPad sales are wifi only, its fair to assume that isn't a major selling point anyway.

However, if 1366x768 is acceptable to you, then its possible having a USB port or MicroSD slot would make the Surface more desirable than the iPad. If you need a keyboard for a tablet, then that touch/type cover option is far more convenient than a separate dock/wireless accessory. Office is still a big selling point to many consumers, too. Being able to run two apps side-by-side could be a massive advantage to some.

The Surface isn't "poorer in specs than the iPad." It is weaker in some areas, but the iPad is weaker than the surface in some areas, too. What details matter to you will come down to personal needs. Saying it has poorer features is just wrong.

Surface supports Xbox 360 USB controllers for gaming
USB will recognize almost all devices, including cameras and will charge your phone
32GB device will have 20GB available for storage for apps/games; SD card is for movies, pictures and music

The Pro will be available in early 2013, and comes in a 64 GB model for $899 and 128 GB model for $999.

So probably looking at £700 for the 128gb, once you add on some tax. Price wise it was what I was expecting. Still cant decide if I will pre order this or wait for haswell, I really want to buy a tablet, but will probably end up waiting.

The Pro will be available in early 2013, and comes in a 64 GB model for $899 and 128 GB model for $999.

So probably looking at £700 for the 128gb, once you add on some tax. Price wise it was what I was expecting. Still cant decide if I will pre order this or wait for haswell, I really want to buy a tablet, but will probably end up waiting.

That is a lot of money just for a glorified laptop and I thought Apple made over priced machines,.